Back in the Day - Old Photos

[RandyJ]

Man - this stuff is awesome!

You know, there a whole lot of folks who don't visit the message board very often, and I just heard that the next
newsletter deadline is coming up next week. I think it would be really cool to put some of these pictures and stories
into the next newsletter, maybe along with a teaser to visit the message board and to get more people to add some
more pictures and stories! I would love to keep seeing these pictures and stories. Maybe we could get some of you
all to make a slideshow to share at some meetings too. I know I would love to hear more about this stuff!

Thanks so much for sharing all this!

Anyone is welcome to use anything I post here in the newsletter or a slideshow. And to Clif's point in another thread, it would be good to have an area of the message board that is preserved and protected from purging...

As for the Nantahala '90 story, seems fitting to do a larger piece on it since it's the 20th anniversary. I'd be happy to contribute, but need a bunch of help from the rest of the team - Davidsons, Bullwinkle, Bartons, Tomcat, Beard.

I've never created a Facebook group, but wondering how many people from around the world that participated in Nantahala '90 we could reconnect there?

[T Yamashita]

I also agree that We also need a FAQ or repository page for all this material. It's historical legacy that needs to be preserved while first hand accounts are still available. I'd like to see old rockport pics from what people did to paddle up from the interstate bridge to go surf. It puts what's been done at the ledge in a good historical context. ty

[Lupe]

And to Clif's point in another thread, it would be good to have an area of the message board that is preserved and protected from purging...

Just fyi, unfortunately we don't really have an active volunteer right now to do anything with the message board like creating a special archive or a new area of preserved threads, but I think Clif is volunteering to move info to the actual ACC website for preservation. Yay Clif!

I also don't know if Clif will take the bait to take on this project, too ( ), but we also still need to move the old "video vault" from the old website. It would be great if we could get all that old video loaded onto something like YouTube or Vimeo and then embed it in the new website, along with newer videos that folks have posted on the mb. If you are the "owner" of any of that old video, or new video that you wouldn't mind having on the ACC site, perhaps you could email or PM Clif!

By the way, this is as good of a place as any to give kudos to Clif for volunteering to help with this stuff. This is the behind the scene stuff that needs to get done, but we need folks to step up to help git r done! Thank you Clif!!!

Finally fyi re: the newsletter - I don't think Gordon will pull information from the message board for articles (I could be wrong!)....he really needs people to submit material. So if anyone is interested in sharing some of these photos or stories, I would really encourage you to email them to him (arpaddler "@" gmail.com). It doesn't have to be long or anything much more than a blurb or short story like folks having been sharing here. It's not been announced, but I heard the next newsletter deadline is Jan 15th!

Cheers,
Heather, who is supposed to be working but is procrastinating instead.

[dthrasher]

A group of Russian Paddlers visited Fayetteville shortly after the Project Raft event. The local paddlers took the Russians to Jose's Restaurant on Dixon Street for dinner. The entertainment for the night was teaching the Russians how to call the hogs. They got a real kick out of it and participated vociferously. However, when we tried to teach them to yell "Go Hogs Go", they were reticent. The translator finally figured out that the literal translation of "Go Hogs Go" into the the Russion Language was "Leave Swine Leave". Consequently, anytime the Razorbacks aren't doing very well, it is common to hear Bill Groom yell "Leave Swine Leave".

[Stewart Noland]

I have slides from the first Upper Richland trip I could show at a Central Chapter meeting. Several participants could probably be coaxed into attending.

[Steve S]

Stewart, do you have a copy of The Hand photo? It's the one Gary Speed made of you tossing a rope to David Hunter at the Falls. We've looked at Ozark Outdoor Supply but haven't been able to find theirs.

[Stewart Noland]

I have a copy of the April 23, 1978 Gazette, and the November 1978 American Photographer magazine in which it appeared, but I do not have a copy of the picture. Gary Speed is in LR and I bet he has one.

[canoe]

Thank god, We wern't there when Shelle and that bunch of old men ran worser wesser, probably would have both had heartattacks, leaving Shelle an orphan, with Mikey Beard as her favorite uncle. Dale(Oops,Pam tells me was there, don't where I was, probably paddling somewhere)

[shellestormoe]

Randy, et. al:

First of all, those pictures are awesome, thanks for posting! I think doing a story for the newsletter about Nantahala 1990 (maybe even the ACA magazine would be interested) is an excellent idea. I guess I just hadn't put it together than this year is the 20th anniversary. If you want help compiling stuff and/or perhaps writing a story for the newsletter about Nantahala '90, I'm totally willing to help. I'd also help with a Facebook group too. Why don't you let me know what you kind of had in mind and I'll do anything you need -- interview people, write a story, bug mom to dig out pictures from the cedar chest. We can chat about it. I can foresee a couple of different possible projects. You can get me at shelle.stormoe@gmail.com.

Shelle Barton Stormoe

[canoe]

I want copies please PAM

[RandyJ]

Another Story – the Significance of Twist Ties

All my “forebears” were from Madison County, south of Huntsville. My mom was born near and grew up at Japton, and my dad grew up over the ridge near Aurora on Ferrel’s Creek. My dad’s parents were still living there in the mid-‘60s – no running water, outhouse, slop bucket, and all - until my dad moved them to a farm north of Springdale.

Stay with me here…there’s a link to boating…

A few years later, Dad built his folks a new house, and I remember only one thing about moving day. As we boxed up stuff from the kitchen, we pulled out about 2 ½ bread bags full of twist ties. Yeah, wire twist ties – probably thousands of them. We shook our heads and kept on packing that day. But it was years later before I understood the significance of those twist ties, which were probably accumulated over a period of 20 years or more.

What I came to realize later was the impact the Great Depression had on those who experienced it first hand. It’s probably a big over-generalization, but I came to realize that folks from that generation didn’t throw much away, and they are pretty creative and resourceful in using what they have for other things.

Maybe that explains why you build a canoe out of car hoods.

Not long after I got into boating, we were at some family gathering, and I was probably talking – a lot – about canoeing. Someone mentioned that my uncle had built a canoe out of car hoods once, so I started shooting out the questions rapid-fire. What? Out of car hoods? Really? When? What ever happened to it? Here’s what I found out.

My great uncle built the thing out of two car hoods, along with some other sheet metal, and some metal tubing for the gunwales. I believe both hoods were from 1938 Chevys. I don't know how long it took him to weld it all together, but he finished it around the 4th of July, 1957. And my uncles took that thing all over the Ozarks and fished out of it.

Here’s the picture of the boat on the day they finished it up.




Not sure who the two men on the left are (need to find out), but third from the left is the builder, my great uncle, Claude McChristian. To his right is my great-grandfather, John Spurlock. He and his brothers built the tomato canning factory in Japton to help folks in the area scratch out enough of a living to get through the Depression.

Before they passed away, my uncles told me a few good stories about experiences they had with the boat. Those stories will have to wait a day or two.

[shelbyjohnson]

Good looking netwire hog fence in the background of that photo Randy. Amazing how the geometry of those car hoods reminds me of a Mohawk XL13 bow and stern. Talk about being ahead of time. Madison County rocks!

[Roger]

Randy, I've heard a similar story before about canoes out of car hoods!

And I think Nolan owes those boys some royalTIES! Like Shelby said, the similarity is amazing!

[shelbyjohnson]

I had so thoroughly enjoyed this topic. I spent a bit of time this weekend digging through my old picture box and found a few classics presented here for your enjoyment. While not very old photos some of these do record a sort of progression in kayak designs.

Hope you enjoy.


Me running a ledge drop on the Hailstone in an old school Holoform kayak. Photo taken on May 20, 1990. The level was 8 inches over the Ponca Bridge. The Holoform was introduced in 1973 and was purported to be the first production plastic kayak.



Me on the table ledge drop on Falling Water Creek paddling a Noah Jetti circa 1991. This photo was taken by Ryan Johnson. We had a whole gaggle of paddlers running Falling Water that day because we deemed Richland was too high. Looking back at what I know now this level on Falling Water is indicative of a PERFECT level for Bobtail Creek. From the time this shot was taken it would be about 5 years before anyone ventured down Bobtail. The Noah Jetti was probably the first creek boat design. It didn't quite take over the market the way creek boats would a decade later. It was short and slow but very stable. The rest of the market seemed interested in the speed offered by the Perception Dancer.




Me in my Infinity Quantum Kayak at Power House Rapid on the Ocoee River, Cleveland Tennessee. Circa 1993



Randy Jackson in the runnout below Beech Ball on Beech Creek circa 1994 Randy was paddling one of them new fangled Dagger Crossfires. The rest of us thought the boat was pretty funny looking. They became wildly popular and shortly after they came out boat lengths started getting shorter and symmetrical hull designs went out of style.




Wade Colewell in an old school Perception Dancer running Hypermart on Shop Creek circa 1995. This was the first production boat that blew open the doors to modern whitewater kayaking. I think Wade proably still has this boat and probably still uses it.



Me surfing Half Moon rapid on the East Fork of the Little Buffalo. The boat was a New Wave Mongoose creek boat. Circa 1997. This was about the time that real honest creek boat offerings came into fashion. Manufacturers were no longer building one boat for all occasions. I'd decided by that time that a creek boat for Arkansas would be the one design style to always keep in the garage.

Stay tuned I have a few more.

[shelbyjohnson]

While not too terribly old these shots by today's standard represent what is becoming a lost art seen on our creeks and rivers - tandem canoe paddling. My comments may stirr up some great debate possibly for another thread. There were some great tandem paddlers in the state but few willing to venture beyond Class III-IV. So for your viewing pleasure I give you some action shots of what I consider to be one of legendary tandem duo's to ever dip a blade in an Arkansas creek.


Bubba Newton White and David Thrasher paddling tandem through the Green Room rapid on Richland Creek. Newton anchored the stern and David handled the bow. December 10, 1994




This is the first drop below the Green Room rapid, starts kinda wide then narrows into a sluice. Note the form, both working their blades on the right side of the boat. You can see the splash of water from David pulling out of the water after hitting a cross-bow draw. From the sequence you can tell he placed his stroke right behind the rock and is pulling out to switch sides.




Down into the sluice. David has switched his blade to river left and Newton is still working the stern from river right.




Tackling Richland Falls on river right.



And so... the legendary status grew even larger around the camp fire at night.